Before rereading and analyzing certain parts of the chapter, our troop did not know Bonzo and Stilson had died. But, after closely reading the clues that suggested their deaths, it became obvious that the fact that they had died went over our heads. When we reread, one clue that stuck out to us was when Graff and Major Anderson discussed, at the end of the chapter, the second death in battle school history. Also, it states that Ender should not be told that the boy had died. We can infer this boy is Bonzo, because they had gotten into a fight earlier in the book. If we go back to chapter one, there are clues that support how badly Stilson was beaten. This explains why Ender felt as bad as he did and thought about Peter, “Ender leaned his head against the wall of the corridor and cried until the bus came. I am just like Peter,” (Card 8). Now, if we look back at chapter 12, we noticed that there were many clues to Bonzo’s death. For example, “All Ender could see, though, was the way Bonzo looked as Ender kicked upward into his groin. The empty, dead look in his eyes,” (Card 212).

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Troop 3

11/10/2014 12:22pm

It was hard to tell if Stilson had died when Ender first beat him, but it was pretty obvious that Bonzo had died because in the text, the author states at the ending of the fight, “Bonzo did not cry out in pain. He did not react at all, except that his body rose a little in the air” (Card 211). The author then states a bit further into the chapter that, “All Ender could see, though, was the way Bonzo looked… The empty, dead look in his eyes. He was already finished then. Already unconscious” (Card 212). With these pieces of text you can infer that Ender had either severely injured both boys, or had most likely killed them.

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Troop 1

11/10/2014 12:24pm

While reading, there a were a few clues to Bonzo and Stilson’s death. First, it states “Bonzo did not cry out in pain… it was as if Ender had kicked a piece of furniture” (Card 211) This tells me that Bonzo could be dead. Ender landed hard on his chest, so that could have killed him. Also, the text says “He made no movement whatsoever to escape the murderous heat” (Card 212). I can infer that Bonzo might be dead. If he was only unconscious, then the water probable would have woken him up. Lastly, the book states “... just that dead, stupid look on his face” (Card 212). This provides lots of evidence that Bonzo is probably dead.

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Troop 6

11/10/2014 12:26pm

Chapter 12
While we were reading, we did not know that Stilson and Bonzo had died. Although it did not clearly the state the death of Stilson and Bonzo there were many clues leading us to believe they were dead. The text states, “Ender Wiggin isn’t a killer. He just wins-thoroughly. If anyone’s going to be scared, let it be the buggers,” (Card 226). This quote shows that Ender is truly not a killer he just doesn’t want people to bother him or make fun of him. Another example in the story is “And this time when Ender kicked upward into Bonzo’s crotch he connected, hard and sure. Bonzo did not cry out in pain. he did not react at all, except that his body rose a little in the air. It was if Ender had kicked a piece of furniture. Bonzo collapsed, fell to the side, and sprawled directly under a spray of streaming water” (Card 211). This is a dead give away in the book that Bonzo had died in the fight. One would be able to assume he passed out, but he couldn’t have. The last blow that made him fall was the kick to the crotch (which wouldn’t be able to knock him out because it wasn’t a hit to the head), but the big clue was his reaction to the hit. He just rose with Ender’s foot and fell over lifeless, without emotion. In the text it says,” His eyes were open, but he wasn’t thinking or moving anymore, just that dead, stupid look on his face, the terrible look, the way Stilson looked when I finished with him,” (Card 212). This can make the reader infer that Ender had killed both Stilson and Bonzo.

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Troop 5

11/10/2014 12:26pm

After looking over the text, we realized that Graff and Anderson were talking about how Ender killed Stilson. They also stated it was the second death in battle school history. In the text it states, “At least they had the good sense not to tell Ender that the boy died.” This is how the author tells the reader that Bonzo died. The author also wrote, “"Its the second time, too. They didn't tell him about Stilson, either" (Card 226). This proves that just like Bonzo, Ender also accidentally murdered Stilson.

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Troop 2

11/10/2014 12:29pm

While reading, we did not know that Stilson and Bonzo were dead. Instead, we concluded that they were severely injured. However, there is text evidence that hints Stilson and Bonzo are dead. In the story it says, “All Ender could see… was the the empty, dead look in his eyes. He was already finished then. Already unconscious. His eyes were open, but he wasn’t thinking or moving anymore, just that dead, stupid look on his face, that terrible look, the way Stilson looked when I finished with him” (Card 212). This is a clue that not only did Ender kill Bonzo, he also killed Stilson.

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Troop 7

11/10/2014 12:32pm

While reading we didn’t know Bonzo was dead, but we figured that Stilson was. In the story we figured Stilson was dead because the sections when it was about Valentine and Peter, he was never mentioned. The text states, “ ‘At least they had the good sense not to tell Ender that the boy died.’ ‘It’s the second time, too’ ‘They didn’t tell him about Stilson, either’ ”(Card 226). This text is evidence saying how Ender killed Stilson and Bonzo. This was the first time the story confirmed that both of the boys were killed. Before that point, it wasn’t clear that they were dead, but there were a few hints. After we read this, we were able to connect all of the pieces together. We then remembered more of the clues, and it all made more sense.

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Troop 4

11/10/2014 12:32pm

We didn’t know that Stilson was dead but, the death of Stilson was not elaborated on so, we just thought he got beat up. We realized that Bonzo was dead when in the text it states, "Only the second death in the history of the school. At least it wasn't a suicide this time" (Card 226). It also states, “...on the other hand, there's the fourth passenger on the shuttle. The one traveling in a bag" (Card 226). Both of which have to do with dead bodies, the second death and someone in a body bag, meaning someone had died, Bonzo which had gotten beaten up pretty badly, so from there we can infer that he had died. Also, in the text it says, “Bonzo collapsed, fell to the side, and sprawled directly under the spray of steaming water from a shower. He made no movement whatsoever to escape the murderous heat” (Card 211-212). This shows that Bonzo is dead because if the heat is murderous, and he was alive, he would’ve made an attempt to escape the murderous heat.

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Troop 9

11/10/2014 6:22pm

A few members of our group knew that Stilson and Bonzo were dead. Some clues that helps us figure out that they were dead was the conversation of Colonial Graff. In the conversation the unnamed man asks about the two deaths which were delivered at Enders hands. “This is the second death in the history of the school...at least they had the good sense to not tell Ender the boy died.” (Card 226). This was a major red flag to us, they told us that Ender killed to two boys, Stilson and Bonzo. They also gave some clues during the two fights. The author noted that Bonzo ha a dead look in his eyes, and Stilson was in the hospital. Overall all of these clues helps us decipher that the two boys died at Enders hands.

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KF

11/11/2014 6:44pm

I had thought them dead after their fights with Ender. This chapter does however tell the reader that they both are in fact dead. “Bonzo did not cry out in pain. He did not react at all…”(Card 211) This should immediately alarm the reader. If Bonzo was alive he would have reacted. He would of screamed, or let out a gasp, anything, but instead he did nothing. “There was a death in the battle school”(Card 225), this confirms Bonzo being dead. “It’s the second time too…They didn’t tell him about Stilson either”(Card 226). In this case you would assume that Stilson always died shortly after his run in with Ender.

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JC

11/13/2014 7:41pm

While I was reading, I was not aware that Stilson was dead, but during the fight between Ender and Bonzo, I was aware that Bonzo had died. the only clue that informed me that Stilson was dead was at the end of the chapter when it said, “It’s the second time, too. They didn’t tell him about Stilson, either” (Card 226). This showed to me that Stilson was dead because they had already said that Bonzo was dead, so by second time they would have to of meant Stilson. Earlier, when Ender beat up Stilson I had only thought that he was badly injured and would recover, but after reading this, I finally realized that Ender did much more damage than I had thought. Although I was not aware about Stilson, I was aware about Bonzo. It was very clear to me that Ender had done a significant amount of damage to Bonzo in the bathroom that would result in him dying. The text that helped me realize this was when it was stated, “All Ender could see, though, was the way Bonzo looked as Ender kicked upward in his groin. The empty, dead look in his eyes. He was already finished then. Already unconscious. His eyes were open, but he wasn’t thinking or moving anymore, just that dead” (Card 212).

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SR

11/14/2014 2:39pm

While reading, I was unaware that Stilson was dead, but when Ender beat Bonzo, I knew that he had killed Bonzo. The text states, "Bonzo did not cry out in pain. He did not react at all, except that his body rose a little in the air" (Card 211). The fact that Bonzo didn't cry in pain meant that he was probably dead. The text also says "He made no movement to escape the murderous heat" (Card 212). If Bonzo wasn't dead, he would have moved out of the water. The confirmation comes when it states that there is a "fourth passenger on that shuttle. The one traveling in a bag" (Card 276). They also tell about Stilson when it is said that "they didn't tell him about Stilson, either" (Card 276). This means that both Stilson and Bonzo were murdered by Ender, unintentionally.

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N.K.

11/27/2014 2:40pm

While I was reading Ender’s Game I did not conclude that Stilson was dead, but I did have my doubts on if Bonzo was dead or not. Back in the beginning of the book, when Ender had hurt Stilson, Graff came to Ender’s house and only told him and his parents that Stilson was severely hurt in the hospital. From this fact, I inferred that Stilson was just getting treated for his wounds, on his way for a full recovery. But, throughout my reading of chapter twelve, it was revealed to me, indirectly, that Ender had, in fact, killed both Stilson and Bonzo. “All Ender could see, though, was the way Bonzo looked as kicked upward into his groin. The empty, dead look in his eyes. He was already finished then. Already unconscious. His eyes were open, but he wasn’t thinking or moving anymore, just that dead, stupid look in his face, that terrible look, the way Stilson looked when I finished him.” (Card 212) Still, from this quote I wasn’t entirely certain that Ender had killed them. It was later on in the chapter that my doubts were confirmed into the truth that Ender had surely killed Bonzo and Stilson during the conversation between (now) Colonel Anderson and Major Imbu. “‘...At least they had the good sense not to tell Ender that the boy died.’ ‘It’s the second time, too.’ ‘They didn't tell him about Stilson, either.’” (Card 226) This proves that Ender did kill Stilson and Bonzo and he didn't even know.